Succulent Shrimp Vegetable Stir-fry at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Succulent Shrimp with Vegetables at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

I like the Chinese philosophy that food is medicine, which prompts me to look for Chinese restaurants when I look for places to live. 

Salinas, California where I live now has several Chinese restaurants with Golden Star being closest to my home. They have delicious, reasonably priced food and friendly workers.

On my most recent foray to Golden Star, I tried their stir-fried shrimp with vegetables dish with steamed rice. I loved this dish, because Golden Star used Chinese 5-spice powder as part of the aromatic seasoning mix. 

5-spice powder is made of a powdery crush of star anise, cloves, cinnamon, Sichuan peppercorns, and fennel seeds. 5-spice powder is flavorful and a potent antioxidant at the same time. 

Chinese cooks place 5-spice powder in hot peanut oil in a wok at the beginning of a stir-fry. Cooks then add green onions, garlic, and peeled and minced fresh garlic to the hot oil as a flavoring base in almost all stir-fried dishes. 

When the scent of the garlic rises, cooks add in fresh vegetables to sear in flavor and color. Searing gives the vegetables a tender outside and sturdy interior. Vegetables prepared this way are visually appealing. Cooking the vegetables this way takes about 8 minutes and makes them blazing hot. 

The vegetables that Golden Star uses in its shrimp vegetable dish showcase the organic produce that Monterey County grows: broccoli, mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, and cabbage (Napa cabbage) are among this Monterey mix. 

When the vegetables are steaming hot, cooks add in gray fresh shrimp, which curls into a circle and turns orange in the heat. About 4 minutes will cook the shrimp this way. To finish the shrimp vegetable dish, 

Golden Star uses a classic Chinese sauce made with soy sauce, chicken broth, toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, and mirin (a sweet Chinese cooking wine). I like the flavor of 5-spice powder in this dish and think the finishing sauce enhances that flavor with salt and some sugar. 

I drank a Peroni Nastro Azzuro beer with the shrimp vegetable stir-fry, because it reminded me of China’s Tsing Tao. A slightly sweet white wine would pair well with this dish as well due to the mirin wine in the sauce, which is slightly sweet. 

Shrimp lovers looking for new flavors would probably enjoy the shrimp vegetable stir-fry with steam rice at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant in Salinas, California. 

Shrimp Vegetable Stir-Fry with Rice
at Golden Star Chinese Restaurant
in Salinas, California

Photo and Text by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Power Outage Food: Cereal and UHT Milk and Salad from Costco posted by Ruth Paget

 California is not in the path of the Polar Vortex Storm but we may have power outages if the weather is cold.  Emergency food:

Cereal

UHT Milk - can be stored at room temperature till opening

Caesar Salad

Salad dressing

Fruit Pouches

Cheese goldfish crackers

Water

Posted by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Wood Chips from Tree Trimming for Parchment Paper? Posted by Ruth Paget

Wood Chips from Tree Trimming for Parchment Paper and/or Toilet Paper? posted by Ruth Paget 

Can wood chips made from trimming tree branches and clearing forest floors be made into parchment paper or toulet paper? 

 Finding an immediate use for wood chips might help clear unwanted branches faster and provide a useful item (parchment paper) for clean cooking. 

As for toilet paper, every state should have a stockpile for emergencies. Shredded paper could be used for the same purposes. 

Notepaper, sticky notes, and greeting cards could also be probably be made with wood chips and shredded paper, too.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Steak au Poivre Made by Florence Paget posted by Ruth Paget

Steak au Poivre Made by Florence Paget by Ruth Paget 

Steak au Poivre is a charred steak dish served with a heavy cream based sauce made with shallots and a mixed variety of crushed peppercorns. Steak au Poivre is a simple yet elegant dish that is usually paired with a Bordeaux wine. 

Our family ate this dish with a 2021 Château Giscours from the Margaux region of Bordeaux. (Photo below) 

Serves 4 

 

Ingredients: 

 

-2 (1/2 pound) rib eye steaks that will be cut in half 

-3 tablespoons olive oil 

-1 large shallot, peeled and minced 

-3 tablespoons mixed peppercorns, crushed 

-2 ounces cognac (2 shot glasses) 

-2 tablespoons salted butter 

-3/4 cup heavy cream used to make whipping cream 

Steps: 

1-Brown steak for 7 to 10 minutes per side depending on the doneness desired. 

2-Remove steak from the pan and keep warm. Place time on 10 minutes for steak to rest before cutting it in half. 

3-Add minced shallots to the pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add crushed peppercorns to the pan and sauté for 1 minute. 

4-Add cognac to the pan. Heat cognac for 1 minute. Remove pan from the stove. Ignite cognac and gently swirl till the flames die down. 

5-Place pan back on heat. Add butter and heavy cream. Stir until the sauce has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. (It is ok to hold sauce while the steak is resting for 10 minutes.) 

6-Cut the steak in half and serve the au poivre sauce over them. 

Serving Suggestion: Florence Paget served the steak au poivre with mashed potatoes and homemade Yorkshire pudding. Step-by-step photos follow:

 

Et Voilaà!  Bon Appétit!

Photos and Text by Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Yorkshire Pudding Made by Florence Paget Posted by Ruth Paget

Yorkshire Pudding Made by Florence Paget Posted by Ruth Paget 

Florence Paget is connecting with her English ancestors with this recipe for Yorkshire Pudding. We eat ours with steak and mashed potatoes. (Step-by-Step Photos Below) 

For 6 People 

Ingredients:

-1 cup flour 

-3 eggs 

-1 cup milk 

-2 teaspoons iodized salt  

-1 cm of olive oil each for 12-cup cupcake pan (To heat separately from batter) 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Place 12-cup cupcake tray in oven with 1 cm of olive oil in each cup. Heat for 10 - 15 minutes. 

3-Mix flour, eggs, milk, and salt together with a whisk to form a homogenous batter with a nice yellow sheen. 

4-When the 10 - 15 minutes of oil heating are done, take out the tray. Fill each cupcake mold 2/3 full with butter. (Oil will bubble up through the batter.) 

5-Bake the batter for 25 minutes. (The eggs will make the pudding increase to 3 times the size of the batter.)

The photos below illustrate the steps to make this delicious and easy baked good:

 

 

 

The Yorkshire Pudding was airy and perfect for spooning au poivre sauce into as a savory dessert for me.

I almost feel these baked goods are magic for how they poof up with a minimum of ingredients.

Photos and text By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Snacking on French Montelimar Nougat at The Market in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

French Montélimar Nougat at the Market in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

During a stop to buy coffee at The Market at Pebble Beach, California, my husband Laurent found Carlier nougat from Montélimar, France on sale. 

Laurent naturally bought some to bring back memories of chewing Montélimar nougat while crawling through holiday traffic jams outside Lyon, France highway tollbooths. 

All the freeways in southern France eventually lead to Lyon and its bouchon, meaning simultaneously wine cork, traffic jam, and Lyonnais bistros in general that are famous for offal (variety meat) tarts and Beaujolais as the house wine. 

To put off the bouchon, drivers buy bags of Montélimar nougat for themselves and all children on board outside Lyon at Montélimar. 

Nougat without anything added to it is a mix of hot sugar and honey that you add whipped egg whites to. Next you fold in sliced nuts and/or candied fruits. Carlier nougat features sliced almonds and pistachios. 

Once all the nougat ingredients are mixed together, it is allowed to cool before being sliced into chewy pieces that can be packaged like the Carlier brand we bought at Pebble Beach. (Picture below) 

To add a little treat to you coffee order at The Market at Pebble Beach, California, you might want to try the Carlier nougat to give your coffee break a slice of French lifestyle on the Pacific Ocean. 

Note: The Pebble Beach Market sells Peerless Coffee and Tea Products from Oakland, California.

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Fish and Seafood as Tourism by Ruth Paget

Maine and New England in general promote lobster, clam bakes, fish, and clam chowder as tourism in winter.

The Central Coast can do this sustainably thanks to efforts of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Personally, I like Italian seafood dishes for using a moderate amount of shellfish with pasta or in a stew and stretching ocean resources while tasting phenomenally good.

Of course, seafood tastes best in cold and rainy weather.  

Bon Appetit!

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soip with Chopsticks and Marrying France